NYC People’s Referendum on Free
Trade
News
Release /Media Advisory
For Immediate Release 11/1/07
Contact: Jessica Walker Beaumont (917)
609-5788
Sen. Clinton
Wrangled by Rangel, Edwards, Bush,
and Corporate
Lobbyists in Peru
Free Trade "Tug-O-Hillary"
Click here to view
photos of this protest.
Who: NYC
People's Referendum on Free Trade, NY Committee in Solidarity with the People
of El Salvador, Wetlands
Activism Collective, Global Justice for Animals, Health Global Access Project,
and Movement for Peace in Colombia.
Where:
Adam Clayton Powell State
Office Building, 125th
Street and 7th Avenue (2/3 train to 125th Street)
When: TODAY, Thursday, November 01, 2007, 1-2PM
Disappointed by Hillary Clinton's
silence on how she intends to vote next week on the Peru Free Trade Agreement
(Peru FTA) during her rally with the Peru FTA backer Rep. Charlie Rangel last
Saturday, trade justice activists will stage a "Tug-o-Hillary" in
front of Charlie Rangel's office at the Adam Clayton
Powell State
Office Building. With ropes tied to both arms, Hillary will be pulled in one direction by Peru FTA foe Senator John
Edwards, accompanied by advocates ofendangered Amazon
rainforest wildlife, workers, family farmers, and HIV medications users. Pulling in the other direction will be
Charlie Rangel and George Bush—with corporate lobbyists holding money bags in front of them for inspiration.
Trade justice activists are fiercely
critical of the Peru Free Trade Agreement, which they argue will limit access
to generic drugs for people with AIDS,
shield corporate polluters from environmental laws protecting the
Peruvian Amazon and its human and animal inhabitants, hurt small farmers and
workers in both countries, and contribute to the expansion of inhumane,
polluting factory farms.
According to Phil Josselyn of the NYC
People's Referendum on Free Trade "Charlie Rangel and Nancy Pelosi have
sold out to their campaign contributors at Pfizer and Occidental Petroleum and
betrayed US voters who elected Democrats in November to bring a fair trade
agenda to Washington. Critics of the
Peru Free Trade Agreement like John Edwards represent millions of US voters who
are fed up with NAFTA-style trade deals that hurt our
economy, pollute our environment, and limit access to lifesaving medications
for people with AIDS. Hillary Clinton has
stated that 'NAFTA hurt a lot of American workers', so why hasn't she gone on
record opposing a Peru Free Trade Agreement that's even worse than NAFTA?"
Edwards
announced his opposition to the Peru Free Trade Agreement on Saturday,
commenting, "Like the failed free trade agreements before it, the Peru
Agreement puts the interests of the big multinational corporations first, ahead
of the interests of American workers and communities."
On Wednesday, the
House Ways and Means Committee chaired by Rangel unanimously passed the Peru
Free Trade Agreement, moving it towards a floor vote despite a threat by the Bush administration on Tuesday to veto the
Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007, sponsored by Rangel and 39
cosponsors, which would reauthorize the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance
program, which provides assistance to workers, farmers and firms adversely
affected by changes in international trade and investment, and extends it to
service workers and firms. According
to Phil Josselyn, "It's an outrage that Rangel and Congressional Democrats
chose to move ahead with a Peru
deal that will harm US workers one day after Bush's announcement that he won't
reauthorize the safety net designed to help workers harmed by such agreements."
Additional
info available at http://tradejustice.net/StopPeruFTA.. The NYC People's Referendum
on Free Trade is NOT endorsing candidates in the 2008 elections, but encourages
ALL members of Congress to vote NO on Peru Free Trade.
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